Inflatable, foldable Rescue Carrier

Now this is just an concept but can this save time getting to a broken person. Here are some stats from NSAA: National Ski Area Association:
"STATISTICS ON SKIING/SNOWBOARDING

Fatalities - According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA): During the past 10 years, about 37.1 people have died skiing/snowboarding per year on average. During the 2006/07 season, 22 fatalities occurred out of the 55.1 million skier/snowboarder days reported for the season. Eighteen of the fatalities were skiers (15 male, 3 female) and 2 of the fatalities were snowboarders, both male. In two of the cases the equipment used was reported as unknown. The rate of fatality converts to .40 per million skier/snowboarder visits.

Serious Injuries - Serious injuries (paraplegics, serious head and other serious injuries) occur at the rate of about 43.7 per year, according to the NSAA. In the 2006/07 season, there were 40 serious injuries. Twenty-four of these serious injuries were skiers (20 males, 4 females) and 16 were snowboarders, (14 male, 2 female). The rate of serious injury in 2006/07 was .73 per million skier/snowboarder visits.

NOTE: A skier/snowboarder visit represents one person visiting a ski area for all or any part of a day or night and includes full-day, half-day, night, complimentary, adult, child, season and any other ticket types that gives one the use of an area's facility."

So the Inflatable Sled to the rescue, you wear it as a backpack then ski to the injured person, unfold and inflate and down the mountain to the hospital you go.
Designer: Janine Züst

Snow Kiting

Wow, you can think of all the fun things you can do with Snow Kiting, but the best is how easy it is for people living far from the Mountain on semi open land. Here is a video of the kites in action.
Snow Kiting is the latest winter sport. Large highly controllable foil kites are used to blast kite pilots along with just the power of the wind! The 'Big air' jumps that boarders and skiers are pulling under the power and security of power kites are simply breath taking.
Snow Kiting is a lot easier to learn than kiteboarding on the water!
It is easy to stand on snow, which makes the whole process easier!
It also takes a lot less wind to drive a board across snow than it does across water.
The whole learning experience is lot less daunting as you need much less power and wind to get you moving.
Finally, holding an edge in snow is much easier than in water making up wind progress much easier to master.
All you need is snow and a power kite and you can turn a cold winter's day into a blistering, adrenaline soaked experience!
To Snow Kite you will want a foil type kite since it is completely soft in structure and cannot be damaged easily when the kite is slammed into the ground. Foils are also capable of reverse launching which is very important for re-launching these kites from the snow.
Check it out, Snow Kiting.

Ice Box - Igloo maker

All the technology and innovations can't keep a good kid down. Building Igloos is one of the best winter time activities that one can do, and it last (as long as it is cold) for a long time, weeks. Well Grand Shelters has come up with a sure fire, long lasting helping solution to building a snow shelter.
Here is what Grand Shelters is saying:
The ICEBOX® igloo construction tool is used for igloo building by creating sequential blocks in place. You set the clamps on the form then fill it while packing. after you have filled it you unclamp it and slide it to the next position. A pole with 8 adjustments, 1 for each layer is used to build igloos with the correct catenary shape and to help support the weight of the snow and form while packing the snow. After finishing 6 rows of the igloo you remove the outside of the form as the wall is now leaning in far enough so the snow can be packed from the outside. The snow only needs to hold its form well enough to stay in place until you start the next block. 8 total rows are built including the final cap.




It seems great, the only draw back is the price, yes it is reusable but $179.95 is a bit steep for those of us just wanting to play, hey maybe they will send me one to try out, you never know.
Ice Box

Odin Collection, let it snow, Helly Hansen

With products like this coming out, it makes you want to go out and find some snow. Here is what Helly says:
"Three years in the making, Helly Hansen introduces the Odin Project, a technically advanced apparel system designed to provide the absolute best weather protection, comfort and durability from base layers to outerwear for professional mountain guides, patrollers, climbers and expeditioners who spend months at a time in rugged back country conditions. The collection combines Helly Hansen’s 130 years of experience in the work wear industry with the most advanced performance fabric technologies and latest sport-inspired designs. No details were overlooked or left untested – from pocket placements to welded seams – in the development of the series available at an exclusive number of leading outdoor and mountaineering specialty stores in 2008."
The collections consists of a Mountain Jacket, Mountain Pant, PCM Soft Shell, Isolator Jacket and the vest.
What a great collection for those who can afford or work for a company that has this as there wardrobe.
Check them out. Helly Hansen